The present invention relates to a milking plant for milking cows, which plant comprises teat cups that are connectable to the respective teats of a cow's udder, the milk obtained from each udder quarter capable of being conveyed with the aid of the said teat cups, through a separate line to a milk measuring device for measurement and evaluation wherefrom, if from an unhealthy quarter it is separated, otherwise it is caused to flow through a common milk discharge line into a milk circulation loop, including a bulk milk tank, wherein the milk is cooled and continuously circulated to maintain it in wholesome condition for delivery to a dairy.
In prior art milking plants of the above-defined type, the teat cups are combined in one single milking claw, while the buffer space in the milking claw, to which space the teat cups are connected directly, comprises four separate chambers. Via four separate milk hoses the milking claw is connected to a milk meter, from which the milk can be separated or be supplied to a milk cooling tank. The object of the four-quarter milking claw is to provide better means to maintain the udder in a healthy condition; the milk originating from an inflamed quarter has a higher conductivity than that from a healthy one, which can be measured for each quarter, whereafter it can be determined whether or not the milk must be separated.
Such milking apparatus is less suitable when a common claw is used for all four teat cups from the cow's udder, and therefore it is preferable that the teat cups be interconnected to the milking system in general individually and independently of each other to the teats of the udder.
Moreover, having prevented unwholesome milk from being mixed with that from healthy quarters, it is important that the milk be maintained in its healthy state by being held continuously at the proper cool temperature (about 3.degree. C. or 38.degree. F.) and sufficiently circulated while periodically receiving warm milk from several milkings so that the milk's wholesomeness is maintained until its delivery to a dairy wherein it is further processed and placed in containers for retail sales.